Young Justice Season 3: Dick Grayson's Search for the Grail
by Tcrunkness
Summary: This is the beginning of my take on Season 3 of Young Justice. This is only a prologue, but there is an entire story planned should there be enough interest. Dick Grayson goes to the Arctic to find closure. What he finds instead sets him on a quest to do the one thing he has never done before. Kept a promise.
1. Epilogue

Young Justice Season 3

Dick Grayson's Search for the Grail

The Prologue.

The whirring of engines broke the serenity of the Arctic as the ship touched down in the endless white for the first time since June. With a hiss of compressed air escaping, the ship door lowered and Dick Grayson looked out upon the snow that stretched further than his eyes could see. Air escaped his lungs in a sigh.

He resolved to take the rest of the journey on foot- the same way Wally did. The walk would give him time to think. To think about the promises he had broken to Wally, to Artemis, and to himself. The walk would also give him time to answer a question he had refused to ask himself.

Why was he here? What was he hoping to find? Closure? That seemed unlikely. Deep down, Dick thought he might find answers. Not necessarily answers about the Reach or the tech they left behind, but answers. He couldn't explain it. He didn't blame anyone for what happened. Wally died a hero's death. Every one mourned but slept well at night knowing he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Arriving at the scene of Wally's death, Dick collapsed to his knees and clenched his jaw. He shut his eyes tight and saw the one image that had dominated his mind since Wally's death-the picture of Artemis and himself taken all those years ago.

"We'll laugh about this someday," he remembered. Except he hadn't seen Artemis smile since she rejoined the team. Then he remembered the promise he made to Wally, the promise no one else on the team knew about. "I promise, I will make sure you two get the chance to grow old together," he told Wally after their big fight. Another promise he failed to keep. Just like the one he made to himself.

Dick thought back to the training simulation from their younger days. The one Miss Martian broke when she still didn't have a firm grasp on her powers. He remembered sending each of his friends off to die for the larger cause. He remembered standing next to Wally as they both made the ultimate sacrifice. He remembered sitting in front of Black Canary and holding back tears as he confessed how much he hated what he had to do. He remembered hating feeling like he was putting something before his friends. He remembered the promise he made to himself to never do that again, to never become Bruce.

Through gritted teeth, Dick Grayson let out a sigh from his lungs and the whirring of engines broke the serenity of the Arctic...

Except the engines weren't on. Dick was the only thing out here. Looking up through his tears and removing his sun glasses, he saw it. It was faint, but the white blanket of snow highlighted it. And for just a second, Dick's heart didn't feel as heavy. For just a second, Dick knew he wasn't the only one at this end of the Earth. For just a second,he saw the streaking silhouette of a ghost of an apparition.

He saw Wally. He knew it. It was quick and in a blink the whirring was silenced and the image gone. But Dick Grayson knew what he saw. What's more, he knew what he was looking for out here. Looking out on the landscape on last time, he smiled for the first time in months.

"I'm going to bring you back, Wally," He said.

"I promise."


	2. Chapter 1: The Speed Force

Young Justice Season 3:

Dick Grayson's Search for the Grail

Chapter 1

The Speed Force

**Star Labs, Metropolis**

November 8th, 22:00

Breathing in the chilled winter air of Metropolis, Nightwing scanned the large building opposite him from the one shadow he could find atop a towering business building. Bruce always hated coming to Metropolis. He called it the city of lights, and Nightwing understood why. Then again, Nightwing never avoided the spot light quite like Batman did.

After making sure he had a clear entrance, Nightwing walked out to the edge of the roof and looked down on the dancing lights that flowed through the busy city streets below. He took in another deep breath of the much cleaner Metropolis air. He never told anyone this, not even Bruce, but this was his favorite part of the job. Standing out on the edge of a building, looking down to what felt like a mile away. Judging the distance and deciding how much power to put into his jump. Timing his decent for the most efficient entrance. Those moments were the moments he felt more like a Grayson than a Wayne. In a way, he felt like that's what always separated himself from Bruce. Bruce needed this life to forget; Dick needed this life to remember.

Spreading his arms, he dove off the building, controlling his free fall before firing out his grapple and swinging to the roof of Star Labs. He landed with a roll and silence. As he approached the roof entrance, he removed the USB cable from his tech unit on his wrist and inserted it into the electronic lock. The lock opens after three seconds.

Nightwing had studied the layout and security of Star Labs extensively before arriving. He knew he had about forty-five seconds before a guard would patrol back to the roof; Nightwing only needed fifteen to make it out of the stairwell and into the dimly lit hallway. Right on cue, he heard the footsteps of an approaching guard rounding the corner. Luckily, Nightwing had arrived at the elevator. He managed to pry the sliding doors open just enough to slip into the elevator shaft. The elevator itself was eight floors below him. The lab he was looking for was six. He hopped over to the cable and slid down landing at the sliding doors of the third floor.

Nightwing had chosen this particular branch of Star Labs for one person-Dr. Silas Stone. He specialized in extra-dimensional tech. Every time an alien or time traveler showed up and left behind some kind of technological device, Dr. Stone was the one who broke down and analyzed it. Most recently, Dr. Stone began studying the Reach's MFD's. Nightwing planned on breaking into his lab, downloading his notes, and getting out without any one noticing.

As Nightwing approached the entrance to the lab, he heard two distinct voices. Nightwing managed to sneak inside and saw Dr. Silas having an argument with a much younger man.

"That's not the point!" the younger man yelled. "You always do this. You get caught up with whatever alien junk you get shipped this month and forget about something we had planned!

" Vic," Dr. Stone feebly attempted to interject.

"Forget it, Dad! I don't care. Another scout is coming next week. I'll go on and let you plan your excuse for missing that one too," With that, Dr. Stone's son stormed passed Nightwing without noticing him and out of the lab. For a second, Nightwing noticed Dr. Stone deflate, his shoulders falling and head bowing. Shaking his head, Dr. Stone turned back to the hunk of metal and wires he had strewn about his table.

"Dr. Stone," Nightwing whispers from the back of the lab. "I need your help." Dr. Stone quickly turned and backed into his computer. Annoyance replaced his momentary look of fear as he identified the silent intruder to be Nightwing and not some super villain with a technology fetish.

"I've told you Leaguers, " Stone began, "You need to make an appointment just like anyone else. I'm not here to play hero with you people." Dr. Stone turned his back to Nightwing and pretended to be busy with something at his computer.

"I know and I'm sorry," Nightwing apologized. "I wouldn't be here if this wasn't important."

"It's always important with you people!" Stone retorted firmly. "Just because we don't fight monsters on far away planets doesn't mean we're us regular people have to put everything on hold when one of you gets a new crime to solve."

"Dr. Stone," Nightwing began before being cut off by the Doctor.

"Just hurry up. Some of us are still being paid to work." Stone turned to Nightwing, and for the first time, Nightwing saw how much this job wore Dr. Stone down. He wore the hours under his eyes and in the streaks of grey through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Stone," Nightwing began. I'm looking for information regarding the MFD's the Reach planted around the planet. I understand you've done extensive research on them."

"You're about 2 weeks too late. I already completed the initial research and passed it along to one of my researchers," the doctor replied.

"Did you find anything?"

"Nothing worth noting. The devices were designed to knock our magnetic fields out of sync and alter our weather patterns to make the planet desolate. Anyone not killed by the resulting climate changes would eventually burn to death by the radiation our magnetic fields protect us from. "

"Is there any reason these devices would..." Nightwing trailed off unsure how to say.

"I heard about your friend,"Dr. Stone replied with a much softer tone than before. "That's one of the reasons I passed the MFD's off to one of my researchers. He wrote his dissertation on the speedsters. I assumed he might be able to offer some kind of insight into friend's death."

"Dr. Stone, I don't think he's dead. I think something happened and he was... I don't know. But I think he's still out there somewhere. We just need to find him," Dick could feel the desperation in his voice. His words nearly tripped over it. "Please," Nightwing resumed, "Help me find him." Dr. Stone turned away from Nightwing again and looked down. Nightwing couldn't ear the sigh he let out, but he saw Stone's shoulders rise and fall. Stone pressed a button next to his computer.

"Professor, could you please come in here. There is someone I need you to talk to," Stone said into the intercom. Nightwing watched a strange lanky man emerge from an adjacent lab. His head swayed side to side to keep with his pace. He didn't run or open his stride, but he moved quickly like sitting still would be a problem for him. His short but unkempt red hair receded from the corners of hair line. He approached Stone without acknowledging Nightwing.

"Yes?" He said. His nasally voice higher than Stone's.

"We have a guest that is interested in the research you're doing with the Reach's equipment," Stone explained gesturing toward Nightwing. Dick could see the professor's eyes widen as he finally saw Nightwing standing there. "Nightwing this is Professor Edward Thawne. Professor, this is-"

"Yesyesyesyes, I know who he is," Thawne replied. Each word sounding like it began before the previous one ended. "I'm so glad you're here Nightwing,"he said extending his hand and shaking Nightwing's hand furiously. "I might have found a huge break through regarding my theories with the speedsters."

"Professor," Dr. Stone interupted, "He's not here for your theories. He wants to know if you have any explanations for what happened to Kid Flash."

"Nononono," Thawne replied shaking his head and walking towards his lab. "My theories and what happened to Kid Flash are directly related."

Nightwing and Dr. Stone followed Thawne into his lab. It was here Nightwing saw that Thawne lived the way spoke. Everything in Thawne's office was scattered and disorganized. In it, Nightwing saw half dismembered devices and papers with scribbles and incomprehensible codes. Scanning the room, Nightwing saw a dissected MFD thrown in the corner.

"Disregard that," Thawne commanded Nightwing. "Those are just protective shells. They're useless. What you're looking for is here," He said brandishing a rectangular metal frame containing a crystal like oval core. "These are the power sources," Thawne explained. "Luthor in his speed to disable the devices didn't anticipate the effect his eggs would have on them. Most of these little power cores got burned up by the eggs. Luckily, this one was untouched." At this, Nightwing realized he was looking at the device that did... whatever it did to Wally.

"These devices," Thawne went on to explain, "They distort energy. Magnetic energy obviously. But magnetic energy can't just make a person disappear. Nonono. Not by itself. However, if it distorted another kind of energy or if the magnetic disturbances were pulling and pushing and ripping some other kind of energy, then maybe that would cause someone to go poof." Thawne spread his fingers apart to illustrate his point.

"But what kind of energy has the ability to do that?" Dr. Stone asked. "Radiation doesn't just make people vanish like that."

"That's where the speedsters come in," Thawne's voice got higher with excitement like he had been waiting for that question his whole life. "How do the Flashes move as quickly as they do, impact with walls, and punch villains at mach three without shattering their bones? They have to be protected somehow when they run, but how? I've theorized an energy... Nonononono. That's not right. It's not really an energy. It's a force. This force protects their bodies, but what's more it protects the people immediately around them. That's why the Flash can grab a civilian and carry them at super sonic speeds without their flesh being ripped from their bodies. This force protects them and emanates from them. They are not just typical meta-humans. They're vessels or anchors or inter-dimensional anomalies that can tap into this force, thisthisthis Speed Force."

"But how does this Speed Force affect Kid Flash?" Nightwing finally interrupted to try and prevent the Professor from rambling any more.

"In everyway!" Thawne exclaimed. "Speed and time have always been intertwined concepts. This Speed Force affects time, it exists outside of time, ititititit is time itself. It is old, it pushes our lives and our history forward and the Flashes they can manipulate it or maybe it manipulates them or they just experience it or itit experiences them. It's ancient. It'd old. Timeless."

"So if the MFD's were manipulating energy, and the Flashes exposed this force to the MFD, then the MFD also manipulated the Speed Force," Stone hypothesized.

"Exactly!" Thawne replied while slamming his hands on his desk. "Think about the power this thing had, "He said holding up the core of the MFD. "It could destroy an entire planet, but instead it latched onto the Speed Force and manipulated time itself. Kid Flash wasn't killed by time, he was consumed by time."

"How does this help us bring Kid Flash back?" Nightwing asked. He felt his pulse racing. He felt like he was making progress, like bringing Wally back was at his finger tips.

"Oh, God. Bring him back?" Thawne replied with disbelief. "That'd be like dropping someone off in the middle of the ocean with a life vest and telling him to find shore. We don't know enough about the Speed Force or how to access it or how it works. Let me explain this to you," Thawne got closer to Nightwing than he would have liked. "Your friend could be anywhere at any time in the universe in any dimension. We simply don't have enough information to even fathom something like that."

There was a silence that could only be described as uncomfortable. Dick couldn't accept this, but he didn't have the words to tell Thawne that. There had to be a way. There had to be something he could do. He couldn't break another promise. He just couldn't.

"You need information," Nightwing finally spoke up. "What kind of information?"

A wry smile spread slowly across Thawne's face.

"Well, since you asked, " he said as he moved to his computer. He brought up a map and slid so Nightwing could get a good look at it. "These locations have randomly emitted the same kind of energy that the speedsters do. Every few years, a new blip appears on the map all from the same general region near Bialya. It was very exciting a few months ago when we saw a new one appear. Thus far, we have no idea what is causing these energy wells to swell up."

Nightwing only had to see 4 of the dots on the map to find the answer Thawne never would. He knew he had to hide what he was feeling-despair. Nightwing would have to enter the mouth of a demon in order to bring Wally back.

And he would.

"I'll go check it out," Nightwing said. "You guys be ready when I come back. If I find the information you need, I want to move on this as quickly as possible."

"Ofcourseofcourseofcourse,"Thawne said excitedly. If we can somehow learn to tap into the Speed Force, it could launch energy research 1000 years into the future.

"Just..." Nightwing trailed off. "Just be ready." And with that, Nightwing left.

He found himself standing on the edge of Star Labs' roof looking back up at the building across the street. He took in a deep breath and jumped from the edge of the roof. He closed his eyes and reached out his hand. He could see his mother there ready to catch him and pull him up. He left his hand out for her's, but just like every jump since he was eleven, she never grabbed him. He had to catch himself. He had to swing himself up to his destination. He had to do it alone. He had to do this alone. He had to walk into the mouth of a demon alone if he wanted to pull Wally back home.

Nightwing knew what those dots were that appeared on Thawne's map. He knew and wished so desperately that he didn't. Nightwing pulled himself back up to the edge of the roof where he had parked the ship and looked back down at the swirling lights dancing beneath him on the streets of the City of Light. Knowing that he was out of view of everyone else, he finally let it show- fear. Dick was afraid of what he had to do. What he had to face. What those dots were...

"Lazarus pits," He said to himself. "Why did it have to be Lazarus pits?"

Don't miss chapter 2! Nightwing versus The League of Shadows! Nightwing Versus Ubu! Nightwing Versus Ra's Al Guhl! And Nightwing versus a surpirse opponent! Plus, a special appearance by someone Dick needs more than ever right now!


End file.
